News: ABSPIE recent initiatives
21st of October 2016: ABSPIE contribute to the IFMBE #GlobalCEDay broadcasting a seminar.
The 21st of October 2016, the School of Engineering and the ABSPIE will contribute to the first IFMBE Clinical Engineering Global Day (#GlobalCEDay) broadcasting worldwide the Seminar of Prof Dan Clark, titled “Healthcare Technology Innovation & the Future” (Link).
The Seminar will be broadcasted using Webex. Those interested can login for free here: Link.
PhD scholarship: Health Technology Assessment of medical devices for low and middle income countries
Project Overview: Health technologies are changing the model of care. In particular, medical devices are the main enablers of modern medicine. Several methods have been proposed to support political decisions regarding medical device in developed countries. Those methods are far from being perfect and are mainly the result of adaptation of methods, developed mainly for drugs, which fail to consider important dimensions that are relevant for medical devices. However, much less has been don for low and middle income countries. For instance, available economic evaluations of medical devices come predominantly from high income countries, and relevant methods and studies are urgently required in less resourced settings.
This research project will focus on development and validation of methods and tools for HTA of medical devices for low and middle income countries. After reviewing existing literature and methods (e.g. multicriteria decision analysis methods) for HTA of medical devices, few case studies will be identified, in collaboration with biomedical engineers working for the WHO or in LIMC (e.g. including Bosnia Herzegovina, South Africa, Mozambique). If relevant, the candidate will have to opportunity to visit those countries to perform field analyses, subject to budget availability, and will be proactively involved in the IFMBE Healthcare Technology Assessment Division (HTAD) activities (http://2016.ifmbe.org/organisation-structure/divisions/htad/).
The idea candidate will be a strongly motivated and independent person with a degree in biomedical engineering, or other relevant field, with relevant professional or research experience in: medical devices design, assessment or management, possibly in LMIC; HTA for clinical evidence, reimbursement, pricing, public procurement or protocol definition; HTA methods, possibly for medical devices and/or LMIC. Experience of mathematical modelling for HTA would be particularly welcome.
For more information, please contact Dr Leandro Pecchia (l.pecchia@warwick.ac.uk) and send a CV and a motivational letter (why do you think you are a good candidate?).
Funding: one studentship is available. Self-Funded PhD applications can be discussed too.
Dr Pecchia invited talk at Africa Health
Dr Pecchia has been invited to give a talk titled "HTA of medical devices: Challenges in design and adoption" at the Health Technology Assessment workshop during the Africa Health in Johannesburgh, Suth Africa, organized by Dr Mladen Poluta as collaboration between SAHTAS and IFMBE.
The University of Warwick helps the European Parliament in defining the forthcoming Agenda on Biomedical Engineering (BME)
Last Tuesday 31st of May the first European Parliament Interest Group on Biomedical Engineering (EPIG on BME)” was launched in the Euro Parliament. This was the result of a long collaboration between the European Alliance of Medical and Biological Engineering (EAMBES), the International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering (IFMBE) and 3 MPs, Ms Lara Comi (EPP, Italy), Mr Nicola Caputo (S&D, Italy) and Jens Gieseke (EPP, Germany).
Photo: after the EPIG on BME Launch (from left: prof Nicolas Pallikarakis, IFMBE HTAD past-Chair, Prof Richard A Black, University of Strathclyde and Editor-in-Chief of Medical Engineering & Physics IPEM Journal, John Brennan, Medtech Europe Director Regulations & Industrial Policy, Dario Pirovano Medtech Europe Senior Regulatory Adviser, prof Birgit Glasmacher, EAMBES Past President, prof Heinrich Schima, EAMBES Fellow Chair, MP Nicola Caputo, European Parliament S&D, prof Jary Hyttinen, EAMBES president, dr Leandro Pecchia, IFMBE HTAD Chairman and PAWG EAMBES Chairman, prof Shankar Krishnan, IFMBE Elected President, prof Jos Vander Sloten University of Leuven –Belgium, prof Marc Nyssen, IFMBE Treasurer, Adriana Velazquez, Director WHO Medical Device Unit, dr Andrel Linnenbank, EMABES General Secretary, prof Ratko Majarevich, IFMBE Past President.
Parliamentary question: Absence of biomedical engineering from Horizon 2020
Why, differently from the USA, the European Horizon 2020 does not have a dedicated space for BME? Do we want to lag behind USA and Japan in inventing the future of medicine?
With this question in mind, MPs Lara Comi (EPP) and Nicola Caputo (S&D) tabled a Parliamentary question written in collaboration with Dr Leandro Pecchia (EAMBES, IFMBE) asking to the European Commission why, and what they intend to do at this regard.